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Siraj, Buttler lead Gujarat to easy win over Royal Challengers

cricket02 April 2025 18:27| © MWP
By:Neil Manthorp
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Fast bowler Mohammad Siraj (4-0-19-3) and England batsman Jos Buttler (73*) starred for the Gujarat Titans as they flattened the Royal Challengers Bengaluru by eight-wickets in their IPL match at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Wednesday.

The home side struggled to 169-7 after being asked to bat first and the visitors romped to 170-2 to complete a straightforward victory with 13 balls to spare with opener Sai Sudharsan compiling 49 from 36 balls and Buttler completely dominating the attack with five fours and six sixes from just 39 balls of controlled, savage batting.

Siraj bagged three of the top five RCB batsmen with opener Phil Salt (14) and Devdutt Padikkal (4) both clean bowled in his new-ball spell while top-scorer Liam Livingstone (54) edged a cut shot to ‘keeper Buttler in the 19th over.

Virat Kohli (7) miscued a pull against Arshad Khan and captain Rajat Patidar (12) was trapped lbw by veteran seamer Ishant Sharma as the home side plunged to 42-4 in their first home game after winning their first two games on the road to top the log before this game.

Livingstone resuscitated the innings after a necessarily cautious start with five sixes and a four from 40 balls and Australian big-hitter Tim David lashed three fours and two sixes in his 32 from 18 balls but the early damage proved fatal and the home side always looked at least 20 runs short of a competitive total.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar (4-0-23-1) did his best to arrest the run-chase but there was no stopping the Titans with Buttler’s dynamics complemented by West Indian impact player Sherfane Rutherford’s bristling 30 not out from 18 balls with a four and three legside sixes.

The result leaves the teams tied in third place on the log with two victories and a defeat from their three games with the only two undefeated teams, Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals the only unbeaten teams with two wins from as many games.


ROYAL CHALLENGERS BENGALURU: Philip Salt, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (captain), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wkt), Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal

GUJARAT TITANS: Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (captain), Jos Buttler (wkt), Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Arshad Khan, Rashid Khan, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Ishant Sharma

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